The Seasons An Exhibition of painting and sculpture organised by The Contemporary Art Society The Tate Gallery 1st March to 15th April 1956 10 a.m. 6 p.m.
The Contemporary Art Society Foreword Chairman Hon. Treasurer Hon. Secretary Assistant Secretary Hon. Assistant Secretary The Tate Gallery, Millbank, S.W.I. Exhibition Sub-Committee for "The Seasons' Raymond Mortimer Peter Meyer Eric Newton Sir Colin Anderson Sir John Rothenstein Executive Committee of the Society Raymond Mortimer Peter Meyer Loraine Conran Howard Bliss Eardley Knollys Eric Newton W. A. Evill Sir Philip Hendy Sir John Rothenstein, C.B.E. Sir Colin Anderson E. C. Gregory Dr. Alistair Hunter Mrs. Oliver Parker Anthony Lousada Denis Mathews Pauline Vogelpoel This Exhibition consists of works specially produced by painters and sculptors who were invited to contribute by the C.A.S., the subject to be one or more of the four Seasons. We undertook to spend 1,000 upon purchasing exhibits for presentation to museums, and a special sub-committee was nominated to select the purchases. In order to encourage museums to buy exhibits for themselves we offered to spend a further 1000 upon assisting them with grants of 20% of the cost of their purchases. Our purpose being to elicit work particularly suitable in scale to museums, we required the paintings to be at least 2 ft. 6 ins. in one of their dimensions. We set also an outside limit of 5 ft., because of the limited space available for exhibiting them. Subject to these conditions, all works produced in answer to our request were to be exhibited without submission to any jury. Fifty-Seven artists accepted our invitation. The Director and Trustees of the Tate made the Exhibition possible by offering to house it, and for this the Society is profoundly grateful. The Exhibition is a special effort made by the Society in addition to its regular activities. One member of the Committee has been appointed as usual to act as "buyer of the year", and the fund at his disposal will not be reduced. This method of choosing purchases through a single member of the Committee (a different one each year) is traditional in the Society, and avoids the danger of "Safety first" choices such as a committee are liable to make. In the choice of works to be purchased from this Exhibition the members of the sub-committee have sought similarly to express their individual preferences rather than to concur in compromises. The privileges offered to members of the C.A.S. are considerable and various: receptions at the Tate Gallery, visits to Private Collections both in London and in the country, invitations to Private Views and sherry parties kindly offered by picture-dealers all this available in return for a minimum subscription of one guinea. Membership costs no more than it did in 1910 when the Society was founded, and is almost the only pleasure that has not risen in price. At the moment there are 250 of our acquisitions ready for distribution to museums. Ninety of these subscribe to our funds, but of course they receive from the
Society works costing many times the value of their contributions, and our income depends chiefly upon the subscriptions, gifts and legacies of individual members. Visitors to the Exhibition are most earnestly requested to join the Society, if they have not already done so; and members are reminded that by executing a Deed of Covenant they can almost double the value of their subscriptions. We have rather less than 2,000 members: if this number could be doubled, the cost of running the Society would not be greatly increased, and the funds available for purchasing would therefore be trebled. No one is likely to enjoy every type of work represented in this Exhibition, but it is only by encouraging gifted artists, whatever the idiom they choose to employ, that the Society can fulfil its purpose properly and support contemporary art. Raymond Mortimer Application for Membership To-the Organizing Secretary, The Contemporary Art Society, The Tate Gallery, Millbank, S.W.I. Name Address I am willing to contribute to the above Fund and enclose as a Subscription. Date... (Clearly written in capitals and stating whether Mr., Mrs. or Miss) i : = ) I wish to receive a form of Deed of Covenant do not wish to enable me to consider whether to pay my subscription in this manner (initials). Anyone who subscribes by Deed of Covenant doubles the value of their subscription without additional cost to themselves as the Society can reclaim the Income Tax from the Inland Revenue. Cheques and Postal Orders should be drawn to "The Contemporary Art Society" and crossed "Coutts and Co., Strand, W.C.2". Order to Bankers Contemporary Art Society Date Bankers Branch Please place to the credit of The Contemporary Art Society at Coutts and Co., Strand, W.C.2, on receipt of this order and on the same date in each year the sum of ( : : ) Signature Name (Clearly written in capitals and stating whether Mr., Mrs. or Miss) Address This order should be sent to The Organizing Secretary, C.A.S., The Tate Gallery, Millbank, S.W.I.
Catalogue Paintings Glade in April Spring and (Earth, snow) A Group Spring (Cornwall) Autumn Landscape 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Norman Adams (b. 1927) John Armstrong (b. 1893) Michael Ayrton (b. 1921) Sandra Blow (b. 1925) John Bratby (b. 1925) Robert Colquhoun (b. 1914) Merlyn Evans (b. 1910) Paul Feiler (b. 1918) Donald Hamilton Fraser (b. 1929) Terry Frost (b 1915) William Gear (b. 1915) Frederick Gore (b. 1913) Henryk Gotlib (b. 1892) 14 Derrick Greaves (b. 1928) 15 * * * Autumn Idyll Josef Herman (b. 1911) * * * Harbour 16 Patrick Heron (b. 1920)
17 * * * The Season oj Thaw Derek Hill (b. 1916) 37 Humphrey Spender (b. 1910) * * * Wood Spring Square Sun 18 19 20 Mary Kessell (b. 1914) Peter Kinley (b. 1926) Stefan Knapp (b. 1921) The Seasons Still-life, Autumn The Seasons 38 Stella Steyn (b. 1907) 39 Hans Tisdall (b. 1910) 40 William Townsend (b. 1909) Sol y Sombra Still-life, Autumn 21 22 i - fm» ' 23 Interior d 24 T/ze Seasons Hunter's Moon 25 Louis le Brocquy (b. 1917) Robert MacBryde (b. 1913) Roy de Maisrre (b. 1898) Bateson Mason (b. 1913) Winifred Nicholson (b. 1893) The Seasons * September * Machine 41 Julian Trevelyan (b. 1910) 42 Keith Vaughan (b. 1912) 43 Carel Weight, A.R.A. (b. 1908) 44 Victor Willing (b. 1928) Burning the Leaves 26 Mary Potter (b. 1900) Autumn Legend Cycte o/ Nature 27 28 Alan Reynolds (b. 1926) Ceri Richards (b. 1903) Sculpture Picnic 29 30 31 Brian Robb (b. 1913) Leonard Rosoman (b. 1913) Zyslav Ruszcowski (b. 1907) Spring Form Wood The Seasons Bronze 45 Robert Adams (b. 1917) 46 Kenneth Armitage (b. 1916) Landscape Tuscan * * * Sf///-///«Spring at Rottingdean 32 33 34 35 36 Adrian Ryan (b. 1920) Maurice de Sausmarez (b. 1915) William Scott (b. 1913) Jack Smith (b. 1928) Ruskin Spear, R.A. (b. 1911) * * * Torso () Bronze * * The Seasons Iron and Composition Spring and Autumn Cemented Iron Symbol Iron 47 Reg Butler (b. 1913) 48 Lynn Chadwick (b. 1914) 49 Siegfreid Charoux (b. 1896) 50 Geoffrey Clarke, A.R.C.A. (b. 1924)
The Seasons Plaster for Bronze Bronze Plaster 51 Robert Clatworthy (b. 1928) 52 Georg Ehrlich (b. 1897) 53 Elizabeth Frink (b. 1930) Purchases The Contemporary Art Society has spent over 1,000 on purchasing work from "The Seasons" Exhibitior Corinthos (The Seasons) Nigerian scented guarea Four Seasons Stone Powder * * :i: The Seasons Plaster :;: * * Spring Bronze 54 Barbara Hepworth (b. 1903) 55 Karin Jonzen (b. 1914) 56 F. E. McWilliam (b. 1909) 57 Bernard Meadows (b. 1915) Paintings and sculptures by the following artists have been bought. Reg Butler Josef Herman Patrick Heron Derek Hill Mary Kessel Bernard Meadows F. E. McWilliam William Scott The C.A.S. has assisted the Arts Council to buy the sculpture by * * * Purchased by the C.A.S. * * Purchased by the Arts Council with assistance from the C.A.S. * Purchased by the Arts Council. Lynn Chadwick The Arts Council has purchased paintings by the following artists Keith Vaughan Victor Willing
Reasons why the membership of the Contemporary Art Society has risen from 300 to nearly 2,000 in the last eight years The Society was founded in 1910. The Subscription remains a guinea, but some people contribute more. Members may visit certain famous Private Collections. Evening Parties are held before some important Exhibitions so that members of the Contemporary Art Society may be the first to see them. Members are frequently the guests at Special Occasions arranged by the Dealers' Galleries. In the last six years 11,500 has been spent on acquisitions. The pictures are bought by a single "Buyer" a different one each year. This avoids Committee compromise. The Tate Gallery received from the C.A.S. their first examples of many artists who have since become famous. Among them the following: Augustus John, Jacob Epstein, Eric Gill, Duncan Grant, Paul Nash, Stanley Spencer, Aristide Maillol, Denoyer de Segonzac, Georges Roualt, Pablo Picasso. Since the end of the war the Society has given away over 1,200 pictures, of which the British Museum, the Tate Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum have received 250. At the time of the Exhibition, 90 Gallery Directors in this country and in the Commonwealth are being invited to view the Society's stock of 250 pictures. Public Galleries will receive all these as gifts.
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